MIAMI- As the time draws closer to the May 5th showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr., many questions surround the fight. Aside from the obvious debate relative to who will actually win?, the one question taking center stage is who will be De La Hoya’s trainer for the bout. For the last couple years Oscar has been trained by the Sr. Mayweather, but this time around some wonder whether that streak should continue. Pros: If there is a man alive who could help ODH engineer a victory, it would be the man who taught Jr. Mayweather a great deal of what he knows. Secondly, there probably is no greater mental edge than Jr. Mayweather sitting on his stool after being tested in a round and watching the man who brought him into this world assist a man looking to take him out of it. Cons: Technically there is no downside to having Sr. Mayweather in his corner. If you just have to establish a downside, I think it would probably be the fact that he would be without the two ‘pro’s’ just listed. I could understand De La Hoya not completely trusting the fact that this man would be training him to beat his blood son, but in a strange way, this victory does as much for Sr. Mayweather’s career as it does for the boxer’s. He would be viewed as the man with the blueprint to boxing’s P4P king. At the end of the day, I think all the subplots are great for a sport that has had it’s fair share of “black-eyes” lately, but it would probably be best if Sr. Mayweather did not get the nod from ODH for this particular gig. Reason #1. It gives ODH a built in excuse if he comes out with an “L” and the question, (“Was there anything he didn’t teach me on purpose”)?, would haunt him for the rest of his life. Reason #2. (Hold the tomatoes, I’m gonna try to be politically correct here). I think that even though this is a sport, it further damages the relationship of one of the premiere “Father/Son” teams in boxing. Obviously they haven’t been an actual unit for quite some time but from a success standpoint, they have both achieved great things individually and it could serve as a wedge within the Mayweather family that could never be torn down. At the end of the day it probably won’t matter how the chips land. With or without Sr. Floyd, ODH will have to crack the code of Jr. Mayweather, and Jr. Mayweather will have to crack the code of boxing’s ‘goldenboy’. Neither will come easy, and no one is really giving any early clues as to how they will go about getting the job done. Sr. Mayweather however is talking. When asked how important is he in this equation he was recently quoted by The Press-Enterprise as saying: ” If Oscar wants to beat Floyd he has to come through me. I’m not saying he can’t do it without me because he does have a puncher’s chance. But I got all the answers because Floyd learned all he knows from me”. Memo to ODH: Listen carefully. If this man is turning his back on his son to help YOU make history, their is no better friend to have in the world.
For De La Hoya, Sr. Mayweather’s No Fairweather
Posted by Tim Starks on Jan 9, 2007 21:23
